LAS CRUCES &GT;&GT; After three hours of debate, divided city councilors voted 4-3 Monday to raise the minimum wage in Las Cruces.

The rates will rise to $8 per hour in July 2015 and $8.50 in January 2016 from New Mexico's current $7.50 per hour.

Some supporters of a higher minimum wage increase said they were concerned Monday's move was designed to detract from their own proposal — pursued via a petition-gathering drive — to raise pay to $10.10 per hour by 2017 in a three-phased approach.

City councilors voting for the $8.50 an hour level were Miguel Silva and Ceil Levatino, who initially proposed it, as well as Mayor Pro Tem Greg Smith and Mayor Ken Miyagishima.

Silva said the wage level under his and Levatino's proposal was in recognition that most people agree a minimum wage increase is needed. But it also will have an impact on businesses, he said. The decision "really comes down to what is reasonable," he said.

"I feel that $8.50 is very reasonable for this area," he said.

Opposing the measure were Councilors Nathan Small, Olga Pedroza and Gill Sorg. They indicated they didn't think it went far enough to help struggling families.

"I firmly believe a larger increase in the minimum wage will be more beneficial," Small said.

Several minimum wage earners and supporters of the activist group NM CAFé, which is pushing the $10.10 level, asked city councilors to scrap the Silva-Levatino proposal and let the voters of Las Cruces weigh in on the alternative wage rate increase in November.

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"I urge you to vote 'no' on this proposal," said Angélica Rubio, NM CAFé manager for its minimum-wage campaign.

NM CAFé on Thursday launched a petition drive aiming to put the question to voters. The group needs at least 2,257 valid signatures to force its version of a minimum wage ordinance to go to the city council. If that happens, the city council could vote outright to adopt the ordinance — which means it wouldn't ever reach voters — or vote to reject it, city officials have said. In the case of a rejection, the NM CAFé proposal would then be added to the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

NM CAFé said Monday it already had gathered 1,400 signatures toward its goal. But the group is now hoping to collect at least 6,000 signatures by June 20 to show the strength of support it has in the public for the $10.10 per-hour proposal.

Levatino noted that the councilors' decision to adopt the $8.50 level is separate from NM CAFé's efforts.

"A vote today for this proposal does not stop CAFé from collecting their signatures and putting this on the ballot," she said.

One minimum wage employee told councilors she felt disrespected by the $8.50 per-hour ordinance, which she felt was "carelessly written."

Also under Levatino and Silva's proposal, tipped employees' would continue to earn the same base rate of pay — $2.13 per hour — as they currently do. They will see an increase, though, in that employers will be responsible for making up the difference between $2.13 and $8 or $8.50 — or the applicable wage rate at the time.

Richard Aguilar, treasurer for the Las Cruces Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, told councilors that the $8.50 per hour level was "fair, something we can definitely support." He said he also works for the nonprofit agency Tresco, which would be negatively affected if the wage rate rises to $10.10 per hour.

Miyagishima, before the vote, said he was "both a public servant and a business owner, so I can understand both sides."

Pedroza questioned a provision in Levatino and Silva's measure that would have given employers a $1 per hour discount on employees wages if child care or health care benefits were provided. She said that raised legal questions and could be a loophole. Councilors then voted to remove that provision altogether.

Also under the measure, the minimum wage would be adjusted annually starting Jan. 1, 2017, based on the cost of living, not to exceed 3 percent per year. The initial cap was 2 percent, but councilors voted to amend it to 3 percent.

Small and some residents questioned whether Smith had a conflict of interest because his wife has been a lobbyist for a state restaurant group that opposed minimum wage increases at the state level. Smith said he'd raised that issue more than a year ago when his wife was actively lobbying on behalf of the group, and city councilors hadn't found it to be a problem then.

City councilors, 4-3, rejected a proposal by Small to raise the amount of the proposed increase by 50 cents for each of the two phases. Also, they turned down another proposal by Small to raise the hourly rate of tipped employees from $2.13 to $4.

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